1. I've spoken with one Optometrist who successfully completed the training to qualify as an Aviation Optometrist.
However after reading the accreditation paperwork presented to her by CASA, she declined to sign it and has foregone the opportunity.
The reason, according to what she told me, was that the CASA contract required her to make a mandatory report to Avmed if there was any sign of deteriorating eyesight, regardless of whether the pilot met the required standard or not , AND WITHOUT SEEKING THE PILOTS PERMISSION.
She saw this as an attempt by CASA to insert itself into what she held to be the sacred doctor/patient relationship and she refused to accept it.
On reflection, in my opinion, the more CASA Avmed attempts to insert itself into the doctor/patient relationship the worse the safety outcomes are going to be. This is a predictable outcome. Britain and the U.S. at least have wised up.
2. The bureaucratic medical establishment, like AVmed, is a useless concept because their preferred outcome if you have ANY condition is that you stop flying and go away - its safer for the bureaucrats that way. They have absolutely no incentive to keep you flying and a big personal incentive for you to get lost.
By way of example, In a slightly different profession - law enforcement - I have an acquaintance who had a major health meltdown over a divorce that saw her hospitalised and treated for alcoholism with the full knowledge of the Police and the support of the Union. Thankfully she made a complete recovery, but that was never going to be good enough for the police HR/Medical establishment which exhibits AVmed traits. Naturally during treatment and recovery she was deemed "non operational" (ie grounded). It took three full years of her jumping through every medical and psychiatric hoop that the medical establishment could dream up - and changing the goalposts multiple times, and a union ultimatum to police command, before she was grudgingly made operational again, and that only with quarterly liver function tests in perpetuity. CASA avmed has exactly the same drivers.
P.S. The police force is crying out for more officers and trying to recruit new ones. Their own HR/AVmed/feminazis are forcing officers out at the rate of over 20 a month on spurious health and now ethics claims (eg domestic violence allegations during divorce proceedings) - which is way more than the recruitment rate..
Last edited by Sunfish; 1st Jun 2023 at 10:56.